Ladies who ride aside make a return

Riding side-saddle rode out of fashion about the time the motor car and emancipation arrived in Australia. Now, writes Lisa Pryor, there has been a renaissance.

When genteel ladies grew bold enough to throw a leg over a horse earlier last century, it seemed the elegant art of riding with both legs discreetly placed to one side might die out.

It was so terminal that after World War II out-of-vogue side saddles were thrown on bonfires. But the tradition has been revived by a new generation of female riders.

Angela Latter, 24, has been riding side-saddle for two years, donning a period hunting costume sewn by her mother to successfully compete in royal agricultural shows around Australia on her horse, Skyview Brydie.

"When I got this horse, she was an ideal side-saddle mount with the right temperament and mannerisms," Latter says. "Seeing you've got both legs on one side, you don't want them to be too crazy."

The dress rules are strict: black gloves are a no-no and loose, floppy veils that resemble mosquito nets are a complete faux pas. The distinctive outfits - or "habits" - were traditionally made from a heavy wool cloth called melton.

In recent times rules have relaxed ever so slightly, as competitor and enthusiast Nicole Hanley says. "The top hat should be silk but we do allow beaver now. You always have a bun and if your hair isn't long enough for a bun you put on a fake bun, then you've got the veil over your face. It's a severe look but that's what makes it elegant."

What may look like a skirt is usually an apron which conceals practical jodhpurs underneath. This limits the risk of macabre accidents common in 19th-century England. "Ladies who rode in the hunt field, if they came off, the voluptuous skirts could get tangled in the horns of the side-saddle and they'd get dragged," Hanley says.

Riding aside had its heyday in England between the wars, she says. At that time only brazen women would have dared to ride astride, and a few men - returned soldiers - even adopted the technique.

"It's never been a thing that men have really done, but there were men with injuries, missing limbs coming back from the war," she says.

Today only a handful of Australian saddlers make side-saddles, and only one, Wendy Tidbold, in Brisbane, specialises. Her saddles are made to order, cost about $1900 and take about 60 hours to produce.

Hanley, a veteran of 14 years, is having a child-sized model made up for her baby daughter Charlotte who, it is hoped, will keep up the tradition: "It's a lovely, elegant way to ride ... I'd really hate to see it die out or disappear."